Sunrise announces David Koch’s replacement

Australian athlete and television host Matt Shirvington will take over from David Koch as co-host of Channel Seven’s breakfast TV program Sunrise.

Co-host Natalie Barr announced the move on Sunrise on Monday morning, as Shirvington joined the pair on the couch.

Matt Shirvington will replace David Koch as co-host of Sunrise.Credit: The Age

Shirvington said he had “mixed emotions” about taking on the role. “Just amazing. Daunted. So excited. Happy. Cannot tell you the honour and privilege this is,” he told the Sunrise audience.

The 44-year-old, who remains the second-fastest Australian sprinter of all time, said becoming a permanent host of Sunrise was more nerve-racking than anything else he had done.

“I think I’m more nervous than I have ever been, including the Olympics,” he said.

“Having the chance to fill in for you [Koch] on a regular Friday has given me the chance to do my training and to be prepared for this. And to understand the workload. I was just looking at the clock on the way in here. This is what time you need me every morning, at 8.10?” he joked.

Koch, the longest-serving breakfast television host in Australian history, announced last Monday he would step away from the role he has held for 21 years.

He intends to finish on June 9.

Australian athlete Matt Shirvington will take over from David Koch as co-host of Sunrise alongside Natalie Barr.Credit: Seven News

Shirvington – who has three children with his wife, author Jessica Shirvington – described Sunrise as a family, and a family show.

“It’s a mouthpiece for all Australians and their stories,” he said.

“I love their stories, and the thing I love the most is sitting on this couch, and going from complete elation and excitement and happiness with some of the stories that you hear about, to the heartbreak and the horror and the sadness, and wiping a tear from your eye and moving on.

“It’s a phenomenal thing. The depth of this team that Sunrise has, from the control room, our producers, to the on-air family as well.”

When asked what he thought of Shirvington as his potential replacement, Koch offered his tick of approval, describing him as “an honest and natural” person who already shared the Sunrise team’s existing values.

“We’re an extension of people’s families and ... Shirvo has excelled at that,” he said. “[He’s] basically a good person, good human being. And that’s what you need on a show like ours.”

Before building his television career, Shirvington dominated the racetrack between the late 1990s and 2000s. Though he competed in a variety of sprinting events, he was best known for his 100-metre races, placing fifth in the 100-metre semi-finals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and holding the Australian 100-metre national sprint title from 1998 to 2002.

He retired from professional sport in 2008.

Aside from a 10-year stretch working for Sky News Australia and Fox Sports as a sports presenter, Shirvington dedicated much of his media career to the Seven Network.

He first joined Seven in 2005, when he became a presenter for the now-defunct science show, Beyond Tomorrow. In July 2020, he replaced Jim Wilson as the weekend sports presenter on Seven News Sydney, and in 2022 he become a host of the travel show, Sydney Weekender.

Over the past few years, the former Olympian has been one of the main fill-in hosts for Sunrise and Weekend Sunrise, allowing him time to learn how the team operated before eventually taking on the role of full-time co-host upon Koch’s departure.

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